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Thanarian Dream
A dream collectively had by the party in Adventure #10 because they came into range of the Virtuous Link when the party was sleeping. What was seen is as follows: There are loud footsteps, panicked breath. A small, dim light moves quickly down a tunnel. The light is on the end of a quarterstaff. The quarerstaff is held by Ker’Ryl. He continues to run, despite being out of breath. There is a smash. Ker’Ryl drops and rolls. He was hit. He spins around to meet an Elf, black in skin, and evil in appearance. The Drow continues to attack. Suddenly there are several of them. Ker’Ryl spins, beating them off with his weapon. They strike with swords, a few of them getting close. Ker’Ryl beats them off, breaking a few jaws, a leg here and there, and eventually he starts bashing in skulls. After a few moments, a dozen Drow are on the ground, either unconscious from pain or dead. Catching his breath, Ker’Ryl leans on his staff. After a few moments, his breathing begins to settle. There’s another flash. Another light running fanatically through the tunnels. There’s a scream. It’s Tia. She’s beaten up, dirty. She’s being chased by large monsters. Drow Elf on top, but giant spider below the torso, Driders pursue her with a vicious combination of glee and anger. “Ker’Ryl!!” “Tia?” Ker’Ryl shoots up when he hears her. He takes off running again, faster than before. “Ker’Ryl, the Driders are chasing me! They didn’t take the bait! Ker’Ryl!!” Tia runs out of a tunnel into a large cavern. Before she can even get a few feet inside the cavern, she stops and is pulled in the air, a Drider latching onto her collar and raising her to eye level. Tia swings her mace but misses. The Drider laughs as the others begin to form a half circle around her. Tia scowls and grabs her holy symbol to Hygra, casting a spell. Small flames emits from her holy symbol, burning the face of the Drider, forcing it to drop her. Tia falls to the ground of the cavern, rolling down a few yards. She finally stops, several new cuts and bruises on her body and face. Driders emerge from the tunnel, several Drow following shortly behind them. Tia turns and stand, ready to fight. “We need to go to Plan B! Ker’Ryl!!” As if on command, Ker’Ryl runs down a side tunnel and emerges into the same cavern, but his tunnel is several feet in the air. Ker’Ryl leaps, raising his quarterstaff. Several Driders quickly strafe away to dodge his attack, but one unlucky Drider doesn’t see him coming until it’s too late. It’s jaw dropping in shock, Ker’Ryl lands on it, slamming the quarterstaff right down the Drider’s throat, all the way down. Rolling with the body as the Drider collapses, Ker’Ryl comes up standing next to Tia, both facing the oncoming swarm. “There is no Plan B,” Ker’Ryl mutters. “Yes there is.” A voice calls out from the other side of the cavern. A small light lifts up into the air, attached to a scimitar. It is Brianna, looking as disheveled as the other two. “Plan A was run,” Brianna says, then mumbled something while holding her holy symbol to Helifix. The light quickly gets brighter and brighter until it’s almost unbearable. “Plan B was fight!” The light is piercing, almost blinding, which is even worse for the Driders and Drow. Tia and Ker’Ryl don’t waste a second, taking advantage of their blindness. They quickly break legs of the Driders, smash in faces, and knock as many unconscious as they can until they recover from the bright light. Brianna doesn’t wait, either, charging in, waving her blinding scimitar around as she swoops in, slicing and cutting everything. “There’s too many of them!” Ker’Ryl shouts as they realize that the swarm coming out of the tunnel is too much even with their blinding light. “You got a flame strike left in you, Tia?” Tia and Brianna nod to each other. Praying to their deities simultaneously they raise their holy symbols and pointing at the tunnel, flames suddenly shoots down from the ceiling into the same tunnel. A large explosion bursts from the tunnel and envelopes the Driders and Drow. The three get blown back from the explosion and onto the floor of the cavern. After the flames clear, the light on the three heroes’ weapons are all that remain, and all their enemies seemingly destroyed. Brianna laughs and looks at Tia. “Now I understand why wizards have such a hard on for fireballs, am I right?” Tia smiles awkwardly. Suddenly, from another tunnel, Umbrose appears, running. “Um, run! Things are coming from this tunnel, too!” The four run quickly, dashing from tunnel to tunnel, taking quick turns and course changes. Eventually they all stop in a small cavern to catch their breath. “You get it?” Brianna asked. “Yes,” Umbrose nodded. “And this, too.” Umbrose reaches into a pouch and pulls out a large scroll. Unrolling it, he hands it to Brianna. “I don’t understand,” Brianna said, looking over the scroll. “What is this item?” “That’s right, you weren’t there,” Umbrose nodded. He grabs the scroll and hands it to Tia. Ker’Ryl looks over her shoulder. “Why is this important?” Ker’Ryl asked. “Yeah,” Tia frowned, “why is this helpful?” “I’ll explain as we go,” Umbrose said. “But there is some bad news and some good news.” “That map leads deeper into the tunnels instead of the surface,” Brianna pointed. “That’s the bad news,” Umbrose nodded. “Why?” Brianna scoffed. “We just pissed off the entire Thanarian Deep. Why would we go deeper into the tunnels?” “The good news is the Drow won’t follow us there, so we can lose them,” Umbrose said. “Why won’t the Drow follow?” Tia asked. “Because there is something so dangerous there that even the Drow stay away,” Umbrose frowned. “And back to the bad news,” Ker’Ryl sighed. “But the original map, the reason we are down here,” Brianna insisted. “That’s more important. That will lead us to the final showdown with the Seven Sins.” “All in due time, Brianna,” Umbrose nodded. “We better hurry. We aren’t safe from the Drow yet.” “You realize if you go down deeper, you’ll be out of range of your siblings? Of everyone?” “It’s a necessary evil,” Umbrose said, turning and walking down a tunnel. Tia quickly follows him down the tunnel. “I don’t get you,” Ker’Ryl said suddenly. “What?” Brianna asked. “You question everything,” Ker’Ryl pointed. “I don’t understand your faith.” “My faith is my business,” Brianna glared at him. “But if you must know, my faith is knowing what is right and wrong and believing that my god believes it, too.” “Umbrose is literally divine,” Ker’Ryl pointed. “He doesn’t require faith. He is literally telling us what needs to be done. Why are you fighting going down into the tunnels?” “Because he’s not my God,” Brianna scowled. ”But I am going down there, because it’s probably the darkest place that any mortal has ever seen, and I’m going to bring the sun down on them!” Brianna storms off and follows Umbrose and Tia. Ker’Ryl raises his hands in mock defeat. “Woah, got a bad ass over here,” he mumbles to himself, then follows them down the tunnel. “Hey, Ker’Ryl,” Umbrose called back as they quickly moved down the tunnel. “I just realized you don’t have your staff.” “Yeah,” Ker’Ryl sighed. “Lost it when I shoved it down the throat of a Drider.” “Ah, excellent,” Umbrose said. “We will have to find you a new one, then.” One by one, they fade into the darkness and slowly out of range until there is only blackness.